Introduction
Because Canada is a confederation of provinces and territories,
each with the power to pass employment and labor laws, determining
the applicable law in a particular situation can be perplexing to a
newcomer to the nation's employment scene. In this article, we
hope to clear up some of the confusion.
Legislation
Under the Constitution of Canada, employment and labor law are
local, provincial matters. As a result, all ten provinces, as well
as the nation's three territories, have passed legislation that
applies locally addressing basic employment standards, occupational
health and safety, discrimination and labor relations. Core
employment standards include minimum wage, overtime pay,
termination pay, mandatory leaves of absence, vacation and holiday
entitlements. Consequently, a company with employees located in
three provinces, for example, must ensure that it does not pay less
than the minimum wage and overtime pay applicable to the
